MSE News: Ryanair 'sticks two fingers up at passengers' with new card fees

steveybp

Like others - I got fed up long ago of being herded like sheep, having a very unpleasant ride by poor pilots, and paying through the nose for basics when Ryanair advertise a much lower fare. I refuse to fly with them now; given a choice I'll either take the train, or an alternative airline and pay the extra. If you want a cheap flight, stop moaning about the cheap way they treat you.

apt

Tugboatden wrote: »

Ryanair have a very clear business model that they are very forthright in articulating. Their business model isn't based in brand loyalty, it's purely transactional. They work on the principle that on balance, allowing for the disaffected dropping off, they will still turn in the passenger numbers. Which they do.

Do they? Ryanair is having to keep an increasing number of planes on the ground during the winter and it's load factor in the summer is lower than easyJet. When the authorities finally get round to clamping down on airport subsidies, 'marketing support' and extortionate card fees Ryanair will live to regret alienating so many potential customers.

NFH

baldmosher wrote: »

Compare with this story: last time (the only time!) I booked with Easyjet, LPL-AMS, basic return price of £65, I got all the way to the final confirmation screen, after five minutes of skipping joyfully past six screens of optional added-extras, only to be told my chosen flights had gone up in price by £25 each, and did I still want them. Now THAT is annoying.

That happens with all airlines. When I tried to book two seats for my wife and me on BA once, only one seat was available at the lowest fare. In order to beat or test the system, we therefore made separate bookings from separate PCs, and we both clicked on the final commit button at the same time. One of our bookings was rejected and had to pay the higher fare, as expected. If you don't know the passenger who's got in there before you, it is of course annoying.

BennyTheBoy

I would just like to say that while I disagree with the charges for paying on Credit or Debit cards and I agree that Ryan Air in particular should be made to add these to there healine cost please dont forget that the operator pays huge amounts for you to pay by these methods so that you can pay it off over a prelonged period if using a credit card.
I work for a tour operator and we pay a massive 3.5% for each CC payment but make it clear to our clients that any CC payments will carry a charge of 2.5%. So we obsorb 1% of the charge. Why should we?
However we dont charge for debit cards even though we stil pay 60pence per transaction.
This has only been in the last few years as for some reason banks now see ALL TRAVEL COMPANIES no matter how long you have been operating for as a high risk. Even though your money has to by law be protected under a variety of different schemes.
At the end of the day we pay for customers to pay us and where credit cards are concerned why should your ability to pay for something over a prelonged period be made free? We pay for it and it comes from our profits. Why shouldnt you?

Finally I would like to add that the only way we (cosumers and companies) can ever tackle this properly is to sort the entire banking system out and say no to charges that companies are charged and then make charging clients illegal. That way everyone is on the same level playing field.

Ben:mad:

richardw

BennyTheBoy wrote: »

I work for a tour operator and we pay a massive 3.5% for each CC payment but make it clear to our clients that any CC payments will carry a charge of 2.5%. So we obsorb 1% of the charge. Why should we?
However we dont charge for debit cards even though we stil pay 60pence per transaction.

I'm more than happen to let ryanair charge me 3.5% for a CC and 60p for a debit card, you could call it actual cost, make it level across all airlines and then they can compete on fares.

NFH

BennyTheBoy wrote: »

However we dont charge for debit cards even though we stil pay 60pence per transaction.

It costs Ryanair around 20p per debit card transaction.

BennyTheBoy wrote: »

We pay for it and it comes from our profits. Why shouldnt you?

Fine, but why does Ryanair charge £6 per passenger per flight segment to process a debit card transaction? For a family of four on a return flight, that's £48 when the cost to Ryanair is negligible.

BennyTheBoy wrote: »

make charging clients illegal.

The card companies used to contractually prevent retailers from passing on these charges to consumers, but this practice was outlawed by the Credit Cards (Price Discrimination) Order 1990.

DavidHWB

Ryan Air must be the country's least favourite airline but they don't care as they are often the only one. Ryan Air is my airline of last resort.

Air_Traveller_2

Ryan Air have totally revolutionised air travel in Europe and their total prices are always significantly lower than any other airline operator. It is churlish to go on about their booking charges as all the others do exactly the same. Frankly, if the charges concern you, then book an equivalent flight with another airline and pay the extra £150 to £200 for the privilege. With Ryan Air you know what you are getting and if you play by their rules then you get an extremely good deal.

mikeeboy

It frustrates me so much when people jump on the 'I hate Ryanair' bandwagon. How are they ripping me off when I can fly somewhere on time with a suitable bag for cheaper than anyone else?

People need to take the blinkers off, and stop hiding behind headline prices. Everyone knows you're 1 click away from a total price plus any card charges. A lot of people who just use hand luggage are well pleased they don't have to pay for hold luggage.

Anyway, back to this, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth, but no harm in getting one. The one thing that's bugging me though is the inactivity charge. This isn't really a Ryanair thing, but a cash passport thing. So I've been on their website and some of the cards that are already out there have 12 and 15 month inactivity charges.

So where has this 6 month inactivity thing come from for the Ryanair charge? I can't find that anywhere. If it's true, it would be a right pain for annual travellers, although how can they take anything from an empty prepaid card??

Mind you with a £150 minimum load there's a chance there could be some leftovers after a flight booking?

Other than that, I'm all for it if I can get access to it. It keeps my flight prices down. For the last 2 years I've had 2 prepaid cards. One of them in Euros, and booking return flights separately in Euros making an even further saving.

The do gooders won't be happy until that £6 is in the flight price - then we'll all have to pay it!

richardw

Air_Traveller wrote: »

Ryan Air ..... total prices are always significantly lower than any other airline operator.

Nope, they aren't. I flew Alitalia to Brindisi last August, because the total cost was cheaper than ryanair including bags.
Always check all airlines for total prices before booking.